Avoid convenience. Save a lot of money. That’s all of the truth about saving money. Here’s an example.
Last week I opened the refrigerator to find olives … in single-serving packs. I don’t know why anyone would buy such a thing, let alone my own wife. Maybe, (I hope) they were on sale.
Even on sale, it’s a very dumb purchase. $2.99 for 4.8 ounces of olives is about 62¢ per ounce. At the normal price of $3.69, it’s over 76¢ per ounce.
Compare that to a can of olives. $1.87 for 6.0 ounces = 31¢ per ounce. (The can contains liquid, but the 6.0 ounces is the weight of the olives.)
You want the convenience of having a little pack of olives every day?
Get some food storage containers. Purchased in quantity, they’re about $1 each.
Open the can of olives, distribute its 6.0 ounces of olives into 5 food storage containers so that each container holds 1.2 ounces of olives. You’ve now got 5 DIY packs of olives-to-go at a cost of about 39¢ each (including 1¢ for the cost of the food storage container, assuming you can re-use it about 100 times).
Compare that to the pre-packaged olives which cost or 92¢ per serving. (Regular price.)
DIY and save yourself $1.82.
Remember, $1.82 saved is $1.82 earned. Considering how much time it takes to open a can and parcel out the contents, this is a DIY job that pays over $50 per hour.
